VietNamNet Bridge – With the strong development of the internet, 3G and smart device users, Vietnam’s e-commerce is expected to enter a boom period in 2015 with projected turnover of $4 billion.

 

 

 

 

Tran Huu Linh, a senior official of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that one-third of Vietnamese access the internet regularly, 58 percent of websites allow orders online, and 15 percent of websites allow online payments. 

The latest report of eMarketer, an US-based market survey firm, says the smartphone market is booming in Vietnam, with 30 percent of the population using smartphones. Vietnamese users spend one-third of their time online on mobile devices.

If the value of online goods transactions per head increases by $30 in 2015 in comparison with 2013, the total online goods turnover would be roughly $4 billion in 2015, according to eMarketer.

Google, which has become a member of the Vietnam E-commerce Association, has said that it hopes to earn $30 million a year from the Vietnamese market. 

Alibaba and eBay, two giant online companies, have found official representatives in Vietnam, an important step to develop the market. 

Meanwhile, Amazon and Rakuten are seeking suitable partners and looking to purchase shares of Vietnamese online trade firms. 

Thai and South Korean firms are also believed to eye the Vietnamese market by seeking Vietnamese partners.

Numerous Vietnamese e-commerce brands have increased  recently. Analysts noted that Vietnam still does not have “major players” like Alibaba and e-Bay, but Vietnamese brands like Vat Gia, VC Corp, Cho Dien Tu (Peacesoft) and Mekongcom have become very familiar to consumers.

However, though admitting that Vietnam has great potential to develop the e-commerce market, analysts are cautious about the development.

The Bangkok Post noted that though current conditions facilitate e-commerce in the country, the Vietnamese market development still is hindered by many factors.

“Vietnamese consumers will not give up the habit of “cash and carry” overnight,” the director of a Hanoi-based trade company said. “They also do not want to make payments online, because they fear the payment method is unsafe.”

When asked about the status of Vietnam’s e-commerce, Tran Trong Tuyen, director of DKT Company, developed economies like the US, Japan and China have nearly reached the slope’s peak, while Vietnam has just begun to climb it.

The gap between Vietnam and developed economies, between the start and the place where the economies stand, is five to seven years.

Hai Minh